IR Operations & Logistics

Holland & Barrett takes another step towards connected commerce

Holland & Barrett has completed its roll out of technology designed to improve the customer shopping experience.

The health and wellbeing specialist, a Leading retailer in IRUK Top500 research, now has Lexmark’s Publishing Platform for Retail in all its UK and Ireland stores. The system draws on stock availability to enable Holland & Barrett store staff to print the most relevants shelf signs for their store. The new solution also creates content for printed signs, electronic shelf labels and digital screens.

The solution can be accessed either from the till point or the back office PC.

Colin Field, project manager for Holland & Barrett [IRDX RHOL], said: “The stores have seen a real improvement in the quality of information on their shelf edge labels with a clean and consistent look which makes it easier for customers to find what they are looking for. Store colleagues find the system easy to use and really like the ease with which they can create signs, print extra copies if required and now also receive a full-colour promotional point of sale.”

David Jenkins, director of sales for retail signage solutions at Lexmark, said his team would now explore how the signage solution could be expanded to Holland & Barrett’s European store network, and how new in-store digital touchpoints might use the technology.

The update is part of Holland & Barrett’s strategy of turning over £1bn by 2020, a target it aims to achieve through multichannel growth. Speaking to InternetRetailing last year, Emma Mead, ecommerce director at the retailer, said it would take a targeted approach to multichannel expansion. Its ultimate aim is to make it possible for customers to move seamlessly between Holland & Barrett’s different sales channels through connected commerce. To that end it is focusing on well-targeted innovations that make a measurable difference to its customers’ experience. To date these have included click and collect and offering deliveries to lockers.